


A Father's Son

by dsynmi



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, Family Feels, Ficlet Collection, Gen, Humor, Namikaze Minato Lives, One Shot Collection, Slice of Life, Uzumaki Kushina Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-01-23 18:30:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21324709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsynmi/pseuds/dsynmi
Summary: What if Minato and Kushina hadn't died?
Relationships: Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina
Comments: 25
Kudos: 76





	1. Something Perfect

**Author's Note:**

> A Father’s Son is a collection of short AU oneshots on what Naruto’s life could have been like had his parents survived. I started it back in 2011 and finished it in 2015. It was originally written in my native language Finnish but I decided to try and translate it. :-) The original version goes by the name Isänsä poika. Hope you enjoy!

Minato just couldn’t tear his gaze away from his son. He was now holding in his arms something that had instantly become the most important thing in his life. Someone for whom he was willing to die for any day, but at the same time someone he never wanted to leave behind. Minato had never considered himself a sentimental man, but the little human being he now held in his arms had moved him to tears countless times already. He started to miss the baby the moment he had to hand him over to someone else. How could you love someone _so much_?

He had a hard time describing his current feelings. On the one hand, he was bursting with _pride_ and _love_ and wanted to go and introduce his son to every single villager, making sure everyone saw his perfect child, but on the other hand he wanted to keep him hidden, _safe_, and protect him from all the dangers in the world.

Naruto was just so -

"So perfect", Kushina put his thoughts into words as she gently touched their baby's round cheek.

"Mm", Minato mumbled in response without turning his eyes away from the sleeping baby.

"Just like his father", Kushina added and glanced at Minato.

"Mm", Minato mumbled again without really paying attention to what his wife had just said. After a moment, however, Minato took a note of his wife's words and laughed, "I think Naruto looks just like you."

"Poor boy”, Kushina said with a smile and pressed her head against Minato's shoulder. They admired their child in silence for a while until Kushina got up from the couch, "I'm going to cook something for us."

Minato nodded with a smile, "We'll be good, just the two of us," he said, "Won’t we, Naruto?"

Naruto seemed to disagree, and Minato's smile faltered as Naruto started to cry. The blond turned to his wife with a helpless look but the redhead just laughed and nodded encouragingly. Minato stared at Kushina in disbelief until he turned his gaze back to his son and nodded to himself uncertainly. He, The Fourth Hokage of Konoha, couldn't be afraid of his son crying. There was nothing wrong with Naruto.

"Ssh", he pressed his lips against his son's little forehead, "Daddy is here, Naruto," Minato whispered as he pulled his son tighter against himself, "You’re okay... _Ssh_..."

Minato’s lips curved into a smile as Naruto's crying began to slowly turn into peaceful sleep.


	2. "Daddy"

"_No_, Naruto", said Jiraiya tiredly and sighed. Naruto had a bad habit of pulling his godfather’s hair out and then trying to eat the white strands. Jiraiya tried his best to rescue his hair from the small clenched fists, but Naruto didn't seem to like that at all and sunk his devilish teeth right into his godfather’s knuckle, "_Oi_!”  
  
"_Naruto_”, Minato raised his voice a little and rescued Jiraiya and Jiraiya's hair from Naruto by lifting the boy into his arms. "You do not bite", he told his son and looked at Naruto with a scolding expression. The boy stared at him for a moment with big innocent eyes until he suddenly began to laugh loudly.  
  
"How old is Naruto now?" Rin asked and couldn’t help but smile at Naruto’s happy (if not a little mischievous) laughing.  
  
She was sitting on the couch and next to her, having hidden himself in the farthest and darkest corner, sat Kakashi. For a while now, the silver-haired teenager hadn’t been very keen on getting close with Naruto. Earlier he had justified his behaviour by the fear of accidentally hurting Naruto, but these days it was most likely the other way around.

"A year and four months”, Minato answered proudly and lowered his son gently back on the floor.

With giddy footsteps, Naruto walked to his plushie lying on the floor and grabbed it in his small hands. Then he spurted to Kakashi as fast as he could and threw his toy at the silver-haired teen, making Kakashi jump.   
  
"Don't throw your toys at Kakashi, Naruto", Minato sighed but Naruto just laughed. Next he ran to his frog-patterned ball which he had received as a birthday gift from Jiraiya and which - as surprising as it was - was still intact.  
  
"_Mama_!" Naruto shrieked enthusiastically and threw the ball at his father who was now sitting on the floor.  
  
"Mommy isn't here", Minato smiled as he rolled the ball back to Naruto, "Mommy went shopping."  
  
"Mama!” the toddler shrieked again and tried to throw the ball at his father the second time but failed and fell on his bum.   
  
Jiraiya coughed. "I think Naruto means you", the sannin told his former student and sent a devious wink at Rin and Kakashi’s direction, making both of them smile. Rin even chuckled a bit but had to force the smile out of her face quickly when Minato scowled at them disapprovingly.

The Hokage felt his cheeks heat up. "Daddy”, he corrected and helped his son stand up. "Naruto, say _daddy_", he spoke slowly, calmly, loudly and clearly, and looked at his son with a hopeful expression, "_Dad-dy_."  
  
Naruto glanced sideways at Jiraiya who was chuckling and then turned back to his father. "Mama!" he yelled again and yet again took a look at his godfather as if to make sure he had said something really funny. The sannin burst into manic laughter which made Naruto giggle uncontrollably. Then the toddler ran towards the couch and climbed on it clumsily, right between Rin and Kakashi.  
  
The front door slammed open, and soon Kushina stepped into the living room. "What's going on? What are you laughing at?”  
  
"_Dada_!" Naruto yelled. Minato stared at his son in awe but turned red the moment he realized Naruto was pointing at his mother.


	3. Good old Jiraiya

Minato couldn’t help but feel just a little wistful as he followed his former teacher towards the front door. Jiraiya had only arrived in Konoha the previous night but was already leaving. The sannin had told them he was only stopping for Naruto’s birthday party and that he was in a hurry to continue his research. What that research truly meant (or contained), Minato did not know and, knowing Jiraiya, did not even want to know.

“It was nice to have you here,” Minato told the white-haired man.  
  
“Well, I have to come back every now and then to see if you have caused any crises,” Jiraiya said with a twinkle in his eye. Minato raised a brow. “Ninety percent of the men here are single and that is because of you. On the other hand, I think I need to thank you. In the midst of all this misfortune, those poor things will surrender their souls to the healing embrace of my upcoming book.”

Minato snorted, amused. Jiraiya had mentioned his unfinished book every now and then and talked about how completely different it would be compared to his former writings. He hadn’t exactly revealed the name or the plot, but based on the numerous clues and hints, it was obviously aimed at adults.

Minato glanced over his shoulder. "Naruto?" he called, "Come and say bye to Jiraiya."

They could hear Kushina trying to persuade Naruto in the living room to leave his presents for a moment, and soon the boy walked into the hallway holding his mother’s hand. Naruto’s eyes widened in terror when he saw his father standing at the front door. He hastily let go of his mother’s hand and ran to Minato, wrapping his arms tightly around his father’s leg.

Minato felt a twinge of guilt as he realized that Naruto was afraid _he_ was the one leaving. The boy stared up at his father with big, sad eyes.  
  
"I'm not going anywhere", he told his son in a gentle voice and stroked Naruto's soft hair. He felt Naruto tightening his grip on his leg.

“What a daddy's boy,” Jiraiya said with an amused grin on his face. He knelt down and extended his arms towards Naruto. “Will you come here for a second?” The little boy just shook his head and the sannin got back up.  
  
Minato lifted Naruto up into his arms and pressed his lips against his son's cheek. "Daddy is not going anywhere”, he whispered into his son's ear, and Naruto wrapped his arms around his father's neck. Jiraiya and Kushina exchanged amused looks when Minato wasn’t looking. The Hokage turned back to Jiraiya, "Are you sure you’re leaving tonight?"  
  
"Hmm, I think I'll go and grab a drink or two and see what Konoha's nightlife has to offer me. Is Kakashi of age yet? He would make a great decoy..." Jiraiya’s last sentence seemed to be for his own ears only, judging by how he lowered his voice to a mutter.

Minato didn't bother to answer such a stupid question. Instead, he gave his former teacher a cautionary look.

Kushina just rolled her eyes, "You haven't changed a bit.”  
  
Jiraiya grinned, "To each his own. Well, I'd love to stay with you for a little longer, but I have some work to do!” The sannin nodded at Kushina and then turned to Minato and lifted his hand to his old student’s shoulder. "Take care. And don’t throw all those love letters and photos into that unfortunate trashcan in your office, anyone can see them!” Jiraiya ruffled Naruto's blond hair quickly before continuing "Bye then!" and left the house at record speed.  
  
Kushina looked at blushing Minato with narrowed eyes, "Love letters and photos? Minato, what was he talking about?"


	4. Of Panda Bears

"_Daddy_!"

Minato heard his son calling for him… _somewhere_. The Hokage turned around quickly, realizing he had lost sight of his son. The boy was nowhere in sight.

"Daddy?" Naruto shouted again but didn’t sound terrified or scared, "Daddy, where did you go?"  
  
"I am here! Where did _you _go?” Minato called back but tried his best not to be too loud. He was well aware their presence had attracted some unwanted attention in the other customers and he didn’t want to disturb their shopping trip any further. "Naruto? Where are you?"  
  
"Here!" Naruto appeared at the end of the aisle dragging a huge panda plush toy behind him. The other customers sent each other amused looks as little Naruto walked towards his father slowly but surely. "I want this”, he told his father firmly, "Buy it for me!"  
  
"You can have a new toy on Friday”, Minato took the panda from Naruto, making the boy’s smile falter immediately, "Where did you find it? Let's take it back."  
  
"_No way_!" Naruto _screamed_ in a voice so loud it made all the other customers around them jump. Then he repeated his angry scream and grabbed his father's leg. "I want it! Daddy! Buy it!" And he was on the floor, on his stomach, still not letting go of his father.  
  
"Look, Naruto”, the Hokage sighed as he put the bear aside and tried to get his son back onto his feet, but to no avail. Minato knelt down in front of his son and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Don’t you remember? We made a deal with your mother, on Fridays you’ll either get some candies or a new toy,” he tried to explain calmly, ignoring the little laughs the other customers in the store let out while watching their “negotation”. "We can come back on Friday."  
  
"_No_!" Naruto screamed again, making Minato wince. "I want it _now_!"  
  
"Whether you want it or not, Naruto, you won’t get it,” Minato said and stood up. Naruto tried to tear the bear out of his father’s grip but Minato held it tight and grabbed his son's wrist firmly. "Where did you find it?"  
  
"I won’t tell you!" Naruto shouted with tears in his big blue eyes. "Give it back!" the boy tried to grab the panda but Minato kept it out of his son’s reach. "You’re _stupid_!"  
  
"Naruto, _language,_" Minato scolded his son.   
  
Ignoring his son's objections, Minato started looking for the aisle where Naruto had found the toy, his crying son following him. When he finally found it, the Hokage was more than happy to put the panda back on the shelf. Then he lifted Naruto up and ignoring his son’s angry cries, he quickly walked towards the entrance of the shop, politely nodding at the cashier as they exited.

The young cashier fought back a smile as she watched Naruto beat his father’s chest fiercely with his small fists.  
  
"Welcome again, Hokage-sama!"  
  
When Minato was out of the store, he let out a long sigh. Now he understood why Kushina didn’t take Naruto with her on the shopping trips anymore. 


	5. A Meeting Of Strange Creatures

Minato would never - _ever_ – have believed a day like this would come. A day on which he wished he hadn’t seen his son at all. In truth, there would be _many_ of those days in the future, and this particular day was only the beginning.

It was a day around the time of Naruto's fourth birthday when a meeting of the five Kages was held in Konoha. The goal of the meeting was to clear the bad air between the Five Great Shinobi Countries. But only four of the five Kages were present as the Mizukage had failed to come, the reason remaining a mystery. And believe it or not, in Minato’s opinion it was only a good thing – now Naruto would have one enemy less, at least.  
  
The Hokage wasn’t exaggerating when he claimed that the damned afternoon had made him a complete _clown _in the eyes of the other countries. The formerly respected and feared Konoha’s Yellow Flash was nothing more than a shadow of the past.  
  
The fact that _only a child _could enter a room closely guarded by the numerous ANBU - _unnoticed_ \- didn’t give Konoha much credit. It was the first time during his reign that Minato felt purest anger as he approached his subordinates right after the meeting and demanded to know why on earth had they let Naruto in the room. And they had not even been able to name a reason!

But Minato couldn’t really blame them, even if he wanted to. He knew how sweet his son could be and how much of Kushina’s temper he had inherited and how even Minato himself had a hard time saying no to him… 

* * *

As the door of the conference room slowly opened, Minato wanted to sink through the floor. Or at least hide under the table.  
  
"Daddy?" Naruto called as he entered the room with confident steps. Then he noticed all the unfamiliar ninjas in the room and stopped in his tracks. Each one of them was looking at him with a questioning face. With a frightened look, Naruto started to search for the familiar mop of blond hair. "Daddy?" he called again, this time in a louder voice.  
  
Each pair of eyes turned to look at Minato.  
  
"Uh…" Minato groaned and ran his hands through his hair. The Raikage looked particularly triumphant as he saw Minato's poker face finally breaking. "Naruto, come here", the Hokage said quickly and opened his arms so that Naruto could climb into his lap.   
  
"I didn't know you had a child," the dark-skinned Kage said, looking closely at Minato and Naruto. Minato knew A had said those words only to inform him that he had just discovered Minato’s greatest weakness and would use it against the Hokage if necessary. Minato threw a cautionary look towards him.  
  
"Excuse me," the Hokage said quickly and rose from his chair with Naruto still in his arms, a cautious look framing the boy’s face. "I’ll be right- " he started but was interrupted by his own son.  
  
"Daddy, who is that fat man?" Naruto asked and pointed at the Raikage. Minato felt his cheeks heat up but before he could rush to the door, Naruto opened his mouth again, "What about that grandpa?" this time he pointed a finger at the old Tsuchikage, "Why does he have a nose like that?"  
  
Minato wanted to cover his face with his hands. The Hokage left the room before Naruto could make any more comments about the appearances of the other kages; Minato was embarrassed as it was. He handed his son to the dark-haired ANBU who was waiting right behind the door.  
  
"Make sure Naruto is taken to Kushina - _now_!" he hissed angrily and gave the man a look that made shivers go down his spine. "And see that no one comes past these doors!"


	6. The Important Question

Naruto opened the door to his father's office and slowly peeked into the room. The Hokage was sitting behind his desk going through a big pile of papers he had brought home from the Hokage Tower earlier in the day.

"Daddy?" Naruto called but his father didn't seem to hear him. The Hokage was going through the documents with an intent expression on his face. Naruto frowned, now fully stepping into the room. "Daddy?" he repeated in a louder voice.  
  
"Yes", Minato mumbled mostly to himself, not even lifting his gaze from the important-looking paper he was about to sign.  
  
Naruto sighed and shook his head, looking offended. Then the boy began walking towards his father and his loaded desk with determined steps. Soon he was standing beside his father trying to get the Hokage’s attention. When he finally succeeded, it was not in the way he had intended. Minato glanced sideways at him but instead of lifting him up, his father only smiled and ruffled his hair before turning back to his work.   
  
"Dad," Naruto said in a rather dissatisfied voice.  
  
"Yes?" Minato replied as he tore one paper apart while mumbling something Naruto couldn't hear. Before the ruined paper landed in the trashcan under the table, Naruto saw a glimpse of red hearts and beautiful writing.  
  
"Is it nice to be a hokake?"  
  
"Hokage," Minato corrected.  
  
"Hogage?"  
  
"Ho-ka-ge."  
  
"That's what I said!" Naruto snorted. "Can you not hear me?" the boy lifted his hands in dismay.  
  
Minato chuckled at his son and ruffled his hair again - this time a little more. "You silly thing", he said amused, finally lifting his four-year-old son into his arms, causing a wide smile to spread across Naruto's face.

The boy took one of the papers lying on the table in his hand, "What is this?"  
  
"It’s a mission report.”  
  
"Right,” Naruto said, not looking very interested. "What’s this?" the boy asked as he carefully pulled a colorful paper from the pile. It turned out to be a magazine but Naruto didn’t have time to even see its cover properly as Minato had already taken it out of his son’s hands.  
  
"Jiraiya has once again left his belongings lying around," the Hokage said and quickly threw the magazine in the trashcan, an irritated expression on his face.

Naruto noticed an ink bottle lying around his father’s desk and took it in his hand. He opened the cap, stucking a finger inside but pulling it out straight away. The cool ink felt nasty on the skin. Naruto lifted his finger to lick off the disgusting ink, but Minato grabbed the boy's wrist.  
  
"Don't eat it, it's toxic."  
  
"Oh," Naruto said and wiped his finger on his father’s pants.  
  
The boy noticed his father’s hand resting on the table. Taking it in his grasp, Naruto started to explore the old but still visible scars. The long scar on the Hokage’s palm was particularly interesting to him.  
  
"You have a really big hand," Naruto said as he pressed his own palm next to his father's hand as if to compare them. Minato just smiled without saying anything and ruffled Naruto's hair for the umpteenth time that day.  
  
"Don’t!" Naruto yelped as he raised his hands and tried to shield himself from his father. It wasn’t that Naruto didn’t like his dad ruffling his hair; it was his mother complaining how tangled his hair always was that he couldn’t stand. "Now I'm ruffling your hair!" the boy shrieked with a laugh as he reached out to mess his father’s already messy blond hair.  
  
Minato avoided his son's attack by standing up. Then he took his son and tossed him a few times into the air. There was no end to Naruto's laughter and when Minato finally lowered him back on the floor, Naruto started jumping in front of his father, trying to make him lift him up again.  
  
"Naruto, daddy needs to go through some more papers tonight," Minato patted his son on the head and returned to sit behind his desk. The Hokage had to admit he was not particularly interested in going through all those papers, especially when the other option was to spend time with his own son, but the work had to be done. "Go and see what mommy is up to."  
  
Naruto stared at his father with an annoyed expression but succumbed to his fate. He turned around and with slow steps, started walking towards the door. However, before Naruto could open it, he turned around quickly and looked like he had just remembered something very important.  
  
"Daddy?" he said, causing Minato to lift his gaze from the papers.  
  
"Yes?" Minato asked and brought the glass of water he had on the table to his lips.  
  
"I asked mommy how children are made," Naruto began. "But she didn't know. She told me to ask you!” he looked at his father enthusiastically, "And then she said that you need to tell her the answer, too."  
  
Minato choked on his drink. The Hokage started coughing and beating his chest which frightened Naruto. For a moment the boy shifted his gaze from his father to the door and back and wondered if he should run to his mother for help. Fortunately his father recovered quickly.  
  
"Um..." the man started but didn't know what to say. He had always thought that Naruto wouldn’t start asking such questions until years later. "Children…" Minato continued, but couldn't put his thoughts into words that a four-year-old would understand. He felt his cheeks heat up. "Well ... When mom and dad just ... love each other ..." For some reason Minato could hear Jiraiya's frantic laughter inside his mind. "When mommy and daddy love each other, a child is born."  
  
The answer sounded ridiculously simple, but Minato didn't think Naruto was old enough to be told and more importantly _to understand_ sex education of any kind. And the Hokage wasn’t too keen on telling his son where the children literally "came from" to keep the boy's curious mind from raising any more embarrassing questions. And Minato’s answer was, after all, somehow truthful - he had only failed to name the activities that followed his mother and father's love.  
  
The Hokage looked expectantly at his son. Naruto said nothing for a moment. The boy looked extremely thoughtful for a while but finally nodded and said "Okay" in a pleased voice. So Minato’s answer was good enough…  
  
Without saying anything, Naruto rushed out of the room and Minato was finally able to let out a sigh of relief. He lowered his gaze back to the stack of papers waiting to be read and signed.  
  
But for some reason he could no longer concentrate on work.


	7. Getting A Shot

At that moment, Minato almost hated himself. He was feeling great sadness, _no_, deep melancholy, and he felt like his heart was about to shatter into a million pieces at any moment. Naruto was walking so excitedly beside him and he seemed so happy to finally be able to do something with his father. Poor boy was completely clueless of what was to come.  
  
Kushina was too good at making strategies and Minato was not very good at saying no to her. _Of course _she had come up with something very important to do that day, leaving Minato to do the dirty job. Oh, poor Naruto... would he _ever _be able to forgive his father?  
  
The Hokage swallowed and knew he needed to stay strong. He lifted his son onto his shoulders, causing Naruto to burst into a happy laughter, and then used his _Hiraishin_. In the blink of an eye they found themselves in the lobby of the Konoha Hospital where doctors, nurses, patients and their visitors watched them with wide eyes, taken aback by the Fourth suddenly appearing in the middle of the room. He had almost landed on the lap of an old man sitting in a wheelchair.  
  
Naruto's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "What is this now, dad?" he asked and slowly looked around, realizing where his father had brought him. Shivers ran down his spine. "We were supposed to visit Ero-Sennin..." he said quietly, a cautious look on his whiskered face, "Did your jutsu fail?"  
  
With a smile on his face, Minato greeted the people around them, who had just started to recover from their shock. Then he lowered Naruto down and grasped his hand tightly. "There’s a little thing we need to do here, Naruto," the Hokage began, "Right after that, we can go and see Jiraiya."  
  
"Wha-what is this little thing...?" Naruto asked hesitantly.  
  
The boy sounded so scared that Minato had to spend a moment gathering the courage to answer him. He didn't want to see his son sad. "It’s just…" he said and started walking forward, "You will have to get a little shot, that’s all..."  
  
"_No_!" Naruto yelled in surprise and stopped immediately. He tried his best to get his hand out of his father's firm grip. "No way! No, no, _no_!"

A few nurses sent them uneasy looks. Even if they wanted, they couldn’t tell their Hokage to silence his screaming son; it would have been inappropriate.  
  
"Naruto," Minato walked quickly out of the lobby into the hallway leading to their destination, dragging his son behind, “There are a lot of sick people here, you can not scream like that," the man tried to speak calmly and smiled apologetically at the people walking past them.

"I'm not coming!" the boy screamed, "You lied to me! You said we were going to see Ero-Sennin! _Liar_!" Naruto tried to get down on the floor, but Minato's grip kept the boy upright. "Let go!"  
  
"_Ssh_, Naruto," Minato lifted his finger to his lips, but Naruto didn’t pay any attention to him or his words and gestures. Fortunately, there were not _that_ many people walking around the hospital at that time (and the time had been chosen very carefully), but Minato was sure Naruto's voice reached the nearby rooms. "Be a brave boy. It's only a little shot."  
  
"No!" Naruto yelled. Minato sighed and lifted his son to his hip, which didn't help at all - the boy's cries started to get louder and louder. The Hokage tried to calm his son but his words fell on deaf ears. Naruto started punching Minato’s chest with his small fists and shouted, "Stupid! You’re stupid! Let go of me!"  
  
For as long as Minato could remember, taking Naruto to have a vaccine had been _hell_. Before Naruto learnt to speak, he had just been crying, but nowadays the boy made his opinions very clear. Minato walked straight in to the doctor's room, ignoring Naruto’s insults.  
  
"I hate you!"  
  
Sure, the boy's words made Minato feel a little upset. But he knew Naruto didn't mean them and in the evening, Naruto wouldn't even remember what he had said earlier. There was no way he could give in to his son when Naruto was behaving like that.  
  
"Good morning, Hokage-sama," the female doctor got up from the chair she was sitting on and bowed deeply.  
  
"Good morning," Minato replied with a smile. "Naruto, remember the manners-"  
  
"You’re stupid!"  
  
"He doesn't really like vaccinations," Minato explained, lowering Naruto down. As soon as the boy's feet touched the floor, he rushed towards the door, but Minato quickly grabbed Naruto's shirt.  
  
"I understand," the doctor nodded, "But there’s nothing for you to worry about, Naruto-kun," she tried to encourage the hysterical child, "It won’t hurt at all."  
  
"It will!" Naruto cried, tears running down his cheeks, "I don’t want it!"  
  
"Come on, Naruto," Minato ruffled his son's hair encouragingly. He tried to think about the ways to calm his son and came up with a good idea. "Come and sit with daddy. I will take the vaccine, too. You’ll see it doesn't hurt at all."  
  
"It will," Naruto wiped his eyes but calmed down a bit, "I don't want to take it! _I won’t_ take it!"  
  
"Come here, now," Minato sat down on the chair opposite the doctor's desk. Naruto looked at his father hesitantly and shook his head. “You are going to be a shinobi, Naruto," Minato said, keeping his cool. "Getting a shot is nothing compared to that."  
  
"I don't need it!" the boy argued.  
  
"You do need it," the hokage said tiredly as he rolled up his sleeve. He glanced at the doctor who nodded and quickly cleaned the Hokage’s arm with a disinfectant before injecting an empty syringe through his skin. "See, Naruto?" Minato smiled, "It doesn’t hurt at all. This is nothing for a real ninja.”  
  
"A real ninja…" Naruto repeated and watched with wide eyes as the doctor pulled the needle out of his father's arm. Then Naruto moved his gaze to his father’s face and saw that the Hokage’s expression still remained calm. "Are you sure it didn’t hurt?" Minato shook his head and Naruto swallowed loudly.  
  
"The sooner you come here," the Fourth began, "the sooner we get out of here."  
  
"Do-do I really have to take it…?"  
  
"Yes.”  
  
"…You owe me ramen," the boy muttered as he climbed to sit on his father’s lap. He pressed against his father’s chest and held his left arm out to the doctor, closing his eyes tightly. He grasped his father’s hand.

"It’s over before you even know it," Minato comforted his son.  
  
The doctor took the syringe she had prepared and started to clean Naruto's skin. Naruto's heart began to beat faster and faster and the whole boy was shaking in excitement. He was thinking about the pain the needle would cause when it went through his skin, and how it would remain there a few seconds and how it would hurt again when it was pulled out and the pain would pass through his whole body and -  
  
When the needle finally pierced his skin, Naruto gasped, but before he could even register the pain, the doctor had already taken it out. The boy opened his eyes and looked at the syringe in astonishment. It hadn’t hurt at all!  
  
"Well…?" Minato dared to ask after a moment's silence.  
  
Naruto jumped down from his father’s lap and walked to the door, a wide grin slowly spreading on his face. Then he suddenly shouted with a fist in the air, "Now let's go, daddy! We must go tell Ero-Sennin what a brave ninja I was and how it didn’t hurt at all! And then-"  
  
The boy darted out of the room with lightning speed. Minato quickly thanked the doctor, got up from his chair and went after his son. Every time he saw a glimpse of his son’s blond hair, Naruto had already disappeared behind the next corner. Minato didn't dare to use his technique in the hospital again, let alone start running after his hyperactive son, so he chose to keep calm and follow Naruto’s loud voice.

"Daddy! Hurry up!" Naruto’s voice echoed in the hospital. "You’re so slow!"


End file.
